Check Out the Trailer for the New Jackie Robinson Film, ’42’

Spring training is in full swing, Team USA is contending for the World Baseball Classic title and Opening Day is less than18 days away (but who’s counting?). We’re also less than a month from another major baseball milestone -- the release of “42,” the highly anticipated film about Jackie Robinson and his struggle to break Major League Baseball’s infamous color line.

Academy Award winner Brian Helgeland ('L.A. Confidential') wrote and directed the drama. Starring Chadwick Boseman ('The Express') as Robinson and Harrison Ford (too many amazing film roles to list here) as legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, '42' will be released on April 12, 2013. If you’re wondering why that date was selected, it’s just three days before the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, the date of Robinson’s first game as a Brooklyn Dodger.

In 1997, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 for all teams, making it the first number in sports to be universally retired. (Note: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera continues to wear 42, as that was his number prior to 1997. Once Rivera retires after the 2013 season, no active major league player will wear the number again). Once a year, on April 15, every player on every Major League Baseball team wears 42 to commemorate Jackie Robinson’s significance and to honor the man who changed baseball history.

Based on the trailer (we've got one below), the film looks fantastic. There are some legitimate goosebump-inducing moments including a pivotal scene between Rickey and Robinson as the rookie gets ready to take the field:

“You want a player who doesn’t have the guts to fight back?” Robinson asks Rickey.
"No. I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back," Rickey says.
"You give me a uniform, you give me a number on my back. I'll give you the guts," Robinson replies.

'42' should help all moviegoers -- not just baseball fans -- gain a better understanding of what Robinson’s experience was like in 1947 as he made history while battling prejudice and racism on and off the baseball diamond.